About Mary

Mary Fant Donnan is a program officer for the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Donnan serves as primary point of contact at the Foundation for its community economic development focus area. Donnan grew up in southwestern Virginia, is a graduate of Davidson College, and received her masters degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Adelaide in South Australia.

Prior to joining the foundation, Donnan served as policy analyst and director of research and policy at the North Carolina Department of Labor. Her efforts there focused on workforce and economic development. One particular initiative she led developed a statewide project on Individual Development Accounts - a strategy for moving low-income families to self-sufficiency through homeownership, small business development and education. Donnan has held the position of development director for the North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research as well as serving in the public schools as a music teacher.

Donnan has served on the boards of the North Carolina Community Development Initiative, Partners for Homeownership and is a member of the Winston-Salem Community Development Funders' Collaborative. She was a Friday Fellow through the Wildacres Leadership Initiative, is an American Marshall Memorial Fellow through the German Marshall Fund, is a graduate of Leadership Triangle and has been active in her church and neighborhood associations. She carries ongoing interests in music, family, gardening, and home renovation.